Sunday, June 12, 2011

This week and next week (June 13 - June 19) are perhaps the most important training weeks for me, with a goal to have them be the highest mileage weeks in my Badwater training program. With less than 30 days until race day, it is time to log some solid back-to-back long runs, and use them to practice the nutrition strategy that we will employ in the desert. I have to admit, the closer we get to the race, the more scared to death of it I am (more on that in a separate post....it is actually a good thing).

This week was solid...very solid. Everything feels good, with nothing major on the injury front to report. I seem to have my nutrition plan (courtesy of the awesome Dan Rose) in perfect shape, and it is working on my long training runs, especially that 1/2 serving of Ultragen mid-way.

Another very amazing thing worth mentioning this week, as mushy and corny as it may sound...Over the course of the 2010 Badwater Ultramarathon and the 340 mile, 7+ day journey that was Running the Caminho Da Fé in Brazil in January of 2011, I somehow added a 3rd brother to my family, one I seem to talk to and/or text and/or email several times a day. It is absolutely true what his wife posts on Facebook, when she posts for me to tell her husband things. Even my own wife jokes about the incredible bond that I've developed with this person. Sure, we have a lot in common - we have a similar passion for running, we have two daughters that are roughly the same age (he has an absolutely amazing family), and we support with vigor the same charity - but we, and our families, seem to have grown so very close in the last year (in part, perhaps, due to some interesting travel issues related to our return from Brazil). We share training (and drinking) stories what seems like every single day. I honesty have grown to trust and confide in this person an incredible amount, a person who is true to his friends, his ideals, and his family, and I can't wait to see how well he does at Badwater this year. If there were a Chris Roman fan club (maybe there is?), I'd be its #1 fan (but I'd surely expect nothing less than being named the President and CEO of the club). So, the point, really? Well, I just wanted to say thank you to a guy that has been such a tremendous friend, and more importantly to his family for so graciously letting him spend (or not killing him for spending) so much time chatting and running with me. See you in the desert my friend.

Monday, June 6

5:42 AM - 4.20 miles in 40:01 (9:46 pace)

Tuesday, June 7

5:10 AM - 6.00 miles in 55:00 (9:09 pace)

5:26 PM - 4.00 miles in 35:57 (8:59 pace). After dropping my youngest daughter off at soccer practice, I had a little time to kill and headed to the Westlake High track for 4 .25-mile repeats - 1:33, 1:33, 1:34 and 1:37.

Wednesday, June 8

OFF

Thursday, June 9

4:44 AM - 6.00 miles in 1:02:09 (10:21 pace), running with Eric (his first run since a PR at the North Face Endurance Challenge in Washington, DC last Saturday.

Friday, June 10

4:45 AM - 7.00 miles in 1:08:49 (9:49 pace).

Saturday, June 11

5:57 AM - 31.00 miles in 5:17:26 (10:14 pace). Cloudy and rainy run at Rockefeller with Aaron and Micah (for the first 17 or so miles).

Sunday, June 12

5:44 AM - 25.00 miles in 4:31:37 (10:51 pace). We actually had a good 5-10 minutes worth of "down time" to re-fuel at the car and again for a quick stop at a gas station c-store. I shifted things a bit mid-run as the legs got tired, moving to an 8/2 run/walk. 63 miles over the last 3 days (7, 31 and 25) have certainly had an impact on leg speed.